Our History: A Global Family
In the United States, for well over 100 years, student Christian movements related to the WSCF have been engaged in advocacy for civil rights, women’s rights, and LGBTQI justice. We are connected to a legacy of anti-war, anti-imperial, and anti-racist theologians and activists, church and ecumenical leaders committed to global justice and global engagement. For over 125 years, the WSCF has supported student Christian movements around the world working to put their faith into action for justice and peace in their own communities and globally. Our US movement is a part of this global, ecumenical network.
In the videos below, you can learn about the history of WSCF in the US, including how Christian students have resisted oppression in the US and abroad through national movements for social justice and against war. Past and present WSCF-US leaders speak about their experiences in the student Christian movement and how the experience of being connected to a global Christian collective inspires them to resist empire and work for liberation in their own communities.
In the videos below, you can learn about the history of WSCF in the US, including how Christian students have resisted oppression in the US and abroad through national movements for social justice and against war. Past and present WSCF-US leaders speak about their experiences in the student Christian movement and how the experience of being connected to a global Christian collective inspires them to resist empire and work for liberation in their own communities.
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Thanks to Charlotte Bunch, Ken Guest, Rev. Luther Felder, and Owen Hannon for their participation in this project.
Archives
Yale Archives:
The official archives of the World Student Federation are housed at Yale Divinity School. This includes records from our founding in 1895 to today. The collection at Yale continues to receive current WSCF documents and publications. Records of the Board of Trustees of the WSCF, with its headquarters at 475 Riverside Drive, Room 1505 in New York City are also archived at Yale. In addition, the personal papers of key WSCF figures are at Yale, including William S. Ellis, John E. Jordan, Ruth M. Harris, Margaret Flory, Alice Hageman, and Bruce Rigdon.
Ruth Harris Readings:
Ruth Harris was born in Nebraska in 1920. She studied music, and then applied to the Women’s Division of the Methodist Board of Missions to become a teacher. She trained at Scarritt College, a women’s school in Nashville that prepared students for domestic and foreign church work. Her church work began in China in 1947 and continued through active participation in the civil rights movement.
She served the United Methodist Church both in the Women’s Division on student issues and later for the Board of Missions as first executive secretary of University World. She was a tireless supporter of the World Student Christian Federation and one of the guiding forces behind the development of the Methodist Mission Intern Program. Countless young people got their ecumenical starts in programs and projects in which she was active.
Read Ruth’s story and the impact of the student movement on her life in these excerpts:
Journeys That Opened Up the World & Ghost Dances, Ruth Harris
Photo Collection: 100 Years of WSCF
The official archives of the World Student Federation are housed at Yale Divinity School. This includes records from our founding in 1895 to today. The collection at Yale continues to receive current WSCF documents and publications. Records of the Board of Trustees of the WSCF, with its headquarters at 475 Riverside Drive, Room 1505 in New York City are also archived at Yale. In addition, the personal papers of key WSCF figures are at Yale, including William S. Ellis, John E. Jordan, Ruth M. Harris, Margaret Flory, Alice Hageman, and Bruce Rigdon.
Ruth Harris Readings:
Ruth Harris was born in Nebraska in 1920. She studied music, and then applied to the Women’s Division of the Methodist Board of Missions to become a teacher. She trained at Scarritt College, a women’s school in Nashville that prepared students for domestic and foreign church work. Her church work began in China in 1947 and continued through active participation in the civil rights movement.
She served the United Methodist Church both in the Women’s Division on student issues and later for the Board of Missions as first executive secretary of University World. She was a tireless supporter of the World Student Christian Federation and one of the guiding forces behind the development of the Methodist Mission Intern Program. Countless young people got their ecumenical starts in programs and projects in which she was active.
Read Ruth’s story and the impact of the student movement on her life in these excerpts:
Journeys That Opened Up the World & Ghost Dances, Ruth Harris
Photo Collection: 100 Years of WSCF
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